Profits at platform provider Novia increased by 72 per cent in the year to the end of December 2018 to £5.6m, despite the firm spending more on technology and staff during the year.
The platform reported assets under management rose by 5 per cent to £6.1bn, with gross sales for the period 3.2 per cent higher than last year at £1.3bn.
But while revenues from the core platform were £20.9m, administrative costs amounted to £17.3m. There was other revenue of £2m.
The administrative costs included the cost of upgrading the technology on the platform, although these costs will be recorded in the accounts over a three-year period.
Staff costs were also included and were higher during the period covered by the accounts, the platform stated.
Bill Vasilieff, chief executive of Novia, said: "We are pleased to report such positive results which include an increase in business inflows, despite significant challenging market conditions.
"Whilst this increase is more modest than we have experienced in the past, it represents an extremely resilient performance under difficult trading conditions and when many competitors experienced falls.
"Continual feedback provided by advisers and analysts indicates that users enjoy the market leading service offered by Novia and we are delighted to report that our new online external web portal Adviser Zone has been successfully implemented and well received in the market."
Adviser zone went live for both new and existing users last week. The upgrade includes in-house built technology but the platform did not switch away from its technology provider GBST, which provides the underlying technology.
david.thorpe@ft.com
What do you think about the issues raised by this story? Email us on fa.letters@ft.com to let us know.
